Tank assembly apparatus

ABSTRACT

Steel cylinders placed end-to-end on rollers, are pushed together between a headstock and tailstock, being rolled, pried and hammered, as and where needed.

United States Paten Herdman et al.

TANK ASSEMBLY APPARATUS Inventors: William B. Herdman; Charles W. Sonnenberg, both of Indianapolis, Ind.

Assignee: Kennedy Tank & Manufacturing Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind.

Filed: Oct. 4, 1972 Appl. No.: 294,938

Related us. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 1 18,378, Feb. 24, 1971, Pat. No. 3,71 1,933,

US. Cl.... 29/200 B, 29/200 P, 29/431 Int. Cl B23p 19/00 Field of Search 29/200 B, 200 R, 200 P,

[ Apr. 16, 1974 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,287,197 6/1942 Sandberg 29/431 2,287,198 6/1942 Sandberg 29/431 Primary ExaminerThomas H. Eager Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Woodward, Weikart, Emhardt & Naughton [5 7 ABSTRACT Steel cylinders placed end-to-end on rollers, are pushed together between a headstock and tailstock,

being rolled, pried and hammered, as and where needed. 1

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures imminwm m, $803592 SHEET 1 0F 2 TANK ASSEMBLY APPARATUS This is a division of application Ser. No. 188,378, filed Feb. 24, 1971, U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,933.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to assembly of steel tanks, and more particularly to a fixture for facilitating such assembly.

2. Description of the Prior Art The pressing of heads or ends on a tank in a fixture is known in the art, as is the assembly of cylindrical pieces by fitting them together end-to-end. We believe that the assembly of large tanks by pressing together a number of cylinders, is not so well known, if known at all heretofore. Yet we have found some advantages in terms of time savings, quality and convenience by forcing and fitting together a plurality of tank rings in a fix ture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Described briefly, in a typical embodiment of the method of the present invention, the headstock and tailstock of the fixture are separated by a sufficient distance to place therebetween a plurality of cylinders to be fitted together. The cylinders are placed on cradle rolls, and each cylinder following the first cylinder is disposed with an inwardly offset leading end portion disposed partially inside the tail end portion of the cylinder immediately ahead of it, at a point below the cen terline of the cylinder immediately ahead of it. Then the cylinders are clamped together, the rolls (and thereby the cylinders thereon) are turned, and the leading ends are worked into the tail ends as needed until the cylinders fit together properly completely around their circumferences at each joint. Then they are secured together, as by tack welding, for example, following which the movable portion of the headstock is retracted. I I

The cylinders are then pushed against the retracted headstock portion, by means of a jack on the tailstock. An end cap is placed on the rolls between the tailstock and therear cylinder. The flange on the end cap is held in overlapping relation with a portion of the wall of the last cylinder at the tail end of the last cylinder. While being so held, the rolls are turned to feed the tail end caponto the last cylinder. Once disposed in overlapping relationship around the entire tail end of the last cylinder, the headstock portion is again extended to move the cylinder assembly toward the tailstock and clamp the tail end cap firmly in place while it is secured by tack welding or the like.

A similar procedure is followed at the opposite end, where after retraction of the headstock portion, a head end cap is inserted between the front end of the first cylinder and the headstock portion, worked into place, clamped in place by the headstock portion, and secured to the first cylinder as by tack welding, for example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a simple schematic elevational view of the fixture of the present invention with four cylinders placed thereon for assembly into a tank.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view thereof with a fragment removed from the center to conserve space on the drawing sheet.

FIG. 3 is a section taken at line 3-3 in FIG. 2 and viewed in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail showing the way in which the cylinders are placed together for clamping.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing the way the tail end cap is placed on the tail end cylinder upon initial assembly thereof.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing the way the head end cap is placed on the head end cylinder upon initial assembly thereof.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary schematic showing the location of the hydraulic jack on the tailstock.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, a headstock 11 is affixed to a pair of longitudinally extending base frame rails 12, and a tailstock 13 is mounted on the rails so that it can be moved toward and away from the headstock as needed to accommodate the number of rings or cylinders 14, 16, 17 and 18 to be assembled into a tank. The headstock includes a tank-engaging frame or member 19 which is movable toward and away from the headstock by means to be described. The tailstock has a similar tank-engaging member 21 mounted thereto.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the headstock 11 includes a structure affixed to rails 12 and to which a scissors or spider linkage 22 is mounted for controlling movement of the tank clamp member 19 which is supported on the rails 12 by a pair of wheels 23, one wheel on each side of the member 19. A fluid actuator 24 is of a double acting type capable of extending or retracting the piston rod 26 connected to the member 19 to push the member 19 in the direction of arrow 27 away from the headstock, or pull it in the direction of arrow 28 toward the headstock 28. The upper ends of the scissors members are pinned to the headstock and to the member 19 to pivot on parallel horizontal axes through points 29 and 31. The scissors members are pivoted together on horizontal axis 32. The lower ends are mounted to the headstock and to member 19 in a manner such that they can move upwardly and downwardly to some extent while pivoting at the same time. Various ways and means can be employed for doing this and it is merely shown schematically as pins in slots 33 and 34.

. Two wheels 36 are provided at the front end of the tailstock 13, one on each side and riding on the respective I-beams 12 serving as the longitudinal members of the base frame. Similarly two wheels 37 are provided at the rear. Two wheels 39 mounted to the tailstock are provided at each side under the inwardly turned upper flange of each of the I-beams to hold the tailstock down on the bed rails '12. A locking pin 41 is provided through an aperture in the downwardly projecting plate 42 of the tailstock and receivable in any one of a plurality of apertures 43 spaced along the bed rails. Apertures are spaced differently on the rails with respect to the apertures of the projecting plate 42, in order to provide a greater number of adjustments, if desired, by inserting lock pins.

Member 21 is pinned at 44 to the tailstock and is secured by a pair of bolts 46 which can be turned in or out to pivot the member 21 back and forth about axis 44 in the direction of arrows 47 to whatever extent is needed to provide the desired upstanding surface to be engaged by the tank cylinders during the fit-up operation. At the bottom of the tailstock 13, as best shown in FIG. 7 there is a hydraulic jack 48 having; a pusher plate 49 on the ram thereof to engage the end of a cylinder such as 18 and enable pushing it toward the headstock.

As better shown in FIG. 3, member 19 is designed in a shape such that the fixture can accept small tanks of the orderof'48 inches in diameter, or very large tanks of the order of 10% feet in diameter. In either event, the cylinders are cradled between the longitudinally extending rolls 51. A drive motor 52 (FIG. 2) is provided with suitable power transmission facilities to simultaneously drive both rolls 51 by'means of the chains 53, so that the rolls can be rotated in the same direction, either clockwise in the direction of arrow 54 in FIG. 3, or counterclockwise in the direction of arrow 56.

OPERATION In the use of the apparatus, the tailstock is moved away from the headstock far enough to provide sufficient space between them for convenient placement of the number of cylinders to be used in the assembly operation. The first cylinder 14 is placed on the rolls immediately adjacent the headstock with the member 19 retracted in the direction of arrow 28. The next cylinder 16 is placed on the rolls with its leading or front end positioned so that the offset portion 57 projects inside the tail end portion of the cylinder 14 immediately ahead of it, below a horizontal centerline through cylinder 14. This facilitates assembly according to the method of the present invention.

Then the cylinder 17 is placed on the rolls with its leading or frontend offset portion just inside the tail end of cylinder 16 in essentially the same manner as shown in FIG. 4. Then the cylinder 18 is placed on the rolls and partially interfitted with tank cylinder 17 in the samemanner. Then the tailstock is rolled into position snug against the tail end of the cylinder 18. Then the pressure is appliedin actuator 24 in a direction to roll the headstock portion 19 in the direction of arrow 27 to clamp the cylinders together.

T hen the roll drive motor 52 is operated to turn the rolls and thereby turn the cylinders on the roll. At the same time, by making whatever use is needed of my bars and a hammer, the leading ends of the various cylinderscan be worked into the tail ends of the cylinders immediately ahead of them until finally all cylinders are snapped together so that there is an overlapping relatlo ship between the rear end of each cylinder and the offset or axially extending flange at thefront or leading end of the cylinder next behind it. Then these cylinders can be tack welded together at the three joints to secure them in assembly. No efiort need be made at this time to provide a complete welded joint for liquid sealing purposes around the entire circumference of each joint. That can be done after the assembly is removed from the illustrated mixture, if desired.

Once all of the rings are securely tacked together, actuator 24 is operated to retract the headstock portion 19, rolling it in the direction of arrow 28. Then the hydraulic jack 48 is operated to push the assembly of tanks away from the tailstock toward the headstock and again into abuttment with member 19. Then the jack is returned to its original condition.

Then, with the tailstock remaining in position, the rear end cap 58, of the tank is placed on the rolls and the axially projecting circular flange 59 thereof is placed in overlapping relationship with the rear end of cylinder 18 at a point 61 immediately above the rolls. Then the rolls are turned in the direction of arrow 56 in FIG. 3 so that the end cap and cylinder move clockwise in the direction of arrow 54. The overlapping portion moves down to be sandwiched between the rolls and the cylinder 18. As the rolls continue to turn, manual force is applied in the direction of arrow 28 to continue to feed the flange, and thereby the rear end cap, onto the end of the cylinder 18. Once this has been accomplished around the entire circumference of the cylinder, actuator 24 of the headstock is again operated to roll the member 19 rearwardly in the direction of arrow 27 to force the tank 18, and end cap 58 therewith, against the tailstock member 21. This drives the end cap home and it can then be back welded in place.

Then the headstock member 19 is again retracted and the front end cap 62 is placed on the rolls, and the flange 63 thereof overlapped wih the leading edge of the cylinder 14. Again the roll drive motor is turned on to turn the rolls in the clockwise direction of arrow 56 as manual effort is applied in the direction of arrow 27 to feed the front end cap 62 onto the cylinder 14. Once this is finished, actuator 24 is actuated to drive the member 19 in the direction of arrow 27 to force home the end cap 62 onto the cylinder 14. Then the front end cap is secured in place by tack welding, for example.

Finish welding of the scams or joints, provision of the various ports and fittings along the tank, can then be accomplished on the fixture shown, or the tank can be moved elsewhere for this purpose. Depending upon the number of cylinders to be assembled,'it is possible that the extent of travel of the jack mounted to the tailstock, or the actuator and piston on the headstock, may not be sufficient to completely close the gaps or move the cylinder assembly the extent needed. In that event, the tailstock locking pins can be removed and the tailstock rolled toward the headstock to whatever extent is needed, when needed.

While the invention has been disclosed and described in some detail in the drawings and foregoing description, they are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, as other modifications may readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art and within the broad scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:

l. A fixture for fitting up a plurality of cylinders for assembly into a tank, said fixture comprising:

a base frame;

parallel longitudinally extending rolls mounted on said base frame for cradling tank cylinders thereon;

means for driving said rolls in rotation in the same direction;

a tailstock having wheels rollable along said frame, said tailstock having a front portion engageable with the rear end of a cylinder mounted on said rolls, and said tailstock having a fluid operated jack extendable therefrom to move said cylinder forward along said rolls;

a headstock secured to said frame and having a tank engaging portion rollable along said frame, and

6 having a scissors linkage to maintain allignment thereof at selected points along said frame. thereof with said tailstock portion, and having 3. The fixture of claim 2 and further comprising: drive means for driving said headstock portion a plurality of cylinders disposed along said rolls and toward and away from said tailstock. clamped between said tailstock and headstock por 2. The fixture of claim 1 wherein: 5 tion. said tailstock includes locking means for the locking 

1. A fixture for fitting up a plurality of cylinders for assembly into a tank, said fixture comprising: a base frame; parallel longitudinally extending rolls mounted on said base frame for cradling tank cylinders thereon; means for driving said rolls in rotation in the same direction; a tailstock having wheels rollable along said frame, said tailstock having a front portion engageable with the rear end of a cylinder mounted on said rolls, and said tailstock having a fluid operated jack extendable therefrom to move said cylinder forward along said rolls; a headstock secured to said frame and having a tank engaging portion rollable along said frame, and having a scissors linkage to maintain allignment thereof with said tailstock portion, and having drive means for driving said headstock portion toward and away from said tailstock.
 2. The fixture of claim 1 wherein: said tailstock includes locking means for the locking thereof at selected points along said frame.
 3. The fixture of claim 2 and further comprising: a plurality of cylinders disposed along said rolls and clamped between said tailstock and headstock portion. 